Controlling means for railway apparatus.



PATENTED JULY 7, 1908. H. G. WILLIAMS & F. B. HARRINGTON.

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR RAILWAY APPARATUS. APPLICIATION FILED MAR.25, 190B.

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INVENTUHS WIT-5755555 fi m 5'. I/YZ'LLIAMS. mm gm FRANCIS B. HAHHZNGI'UJSZ'. 2%; mawm ATTY Nb. 892,637. PATENTEDJULY 7, 1908. H. c. WILLIAMS & P. B. HARRINGTON. CONTROLLING MEANS FOR RAILWAY APPARATUS.

APPLICATION IILED MAR. 25, 1908.

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HIRAM WILLIAMS, OF UTICA, AND FRANCIS B. HA RINGTON, OE ALBA Y, NEW YORK, AsslcNoRs 'ro GENERAL ELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION or NEW. YORK.

CONTROLLING MEANS FOR RAILWAY APPARATUS Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented July 7, 1908.

Application filed March 25, 1908. serial No. 428,168.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HIRAM C. WILLIAMS andFRANCIs B. HARRINGTON, citizens of the United States,residing, respectively, at Utica, county of Oneida, State of New York, and at Albany,'county of Albany ,State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Controllin Means for Railway Apparatus, of which'the ollowing is a specification.

Our invention relates to controlling means for railway a paratus.

ln connectlon with the control levers on interlocking machines it has been customary heretofore, in certain cases, to em loy what is known as a screw-release or ow-speed circuit-closer for the purpose of preventing fora been broken.

the closin of the circuit of a lock-magnet pre etermined time after it has once For this purpose, heretofore, contacts have been employed, driven by a hand-wheel through a worm-gear,'so that the movement of the contacts is very slow.

This arran ement is, to a certain extent,

objectionab e, since, durin the interval While the circuit-closer is belng operated, it

requires the attention of-the operator.

Our invention consists in a novel arran ement of the control-apparatus whereby t e desired time-interval is obtained, but which does notrequire the attention of the operator during this time-interval.

Our invention consists in employing in combination with the lock-magnet of a lever, a stick-relay (that is, a relay provided with contacts arran ed to close a maintaining-circuit for itself) controlling the lookmagnet, and a time element circuit closer controlling both stick-relay and lockmagnet; the circuit-closer being so arranged that it maybe shifted quickly by the operator, but will not close the circuit until after the desired interval. For this purpose we employ a mercury circuitcloser similar in construction to that described in a different combination in a former application, Serial No. 400,646, filed Nov. 4, 1907. This circuit-closer comprises a vessel havin two chambers separated by a dividlng wal arranged to ermit a slow flow of mercury from one cham er to the other. By properly pro ortioning the amount of the mercury to t e size of the opening connecting the two chambers, the time-interval may be made anything desired within reasonable limits. Our invention will best be understood by reference to the accompanying drawings, in

which Figure 1 shows diagrammatically a signal controlling lever and lock-magnet provided In accordance with our invention; F1 2 shows a cross-sectional front elevation 0 the circuit-closer; and Fig. 3 a side elevation of the same.

In Fig. 1, A represents a lever of an interlocking machine, indicated diagrammaticwith a time-element circuit-closer arranged all at B, which lever controls throu h suitab e connecting means a signal C. repre sents diagrammatically the slot-mechanism for the signal. E is a track-relay controlling the slot-mechanism D and connected to the rails F of a track-sectionsupplied with current from a battery G. H re resents a lock magnet for the lever A, which permits the movement of the lever to clear the signal only when the lock-magnet is energized. I

represents a source of current for the slotmechanism D and lock-magnet H. J represents a stickrela or in other words, a re lay provided with Contacts for closing a maintainin circuit for itself. K re resents the time-e ement circuit-closer, w ich is pivotally mounted and provided with a suitable actuating member or Operating-handle L. Within the casin of the circuit-closer is a glass vessel M, whic 1 contains mercury and is separated into two chambers by a dividing wall having two openings connecting the chambers,one opening m bein large, and the other m being restricted. hese openings are so arranged that when the circuitcloser is rotated nmety degrees in a clockwise direction, as .viewed in Fig. 1, the mercury passes quickly from the. left-hand to the right-hand chamber through the Opening m, but when the circuit-closer is returned to the position shown in the drawing, the mercury I is compelled to flow back through the restricte ening m, so that a-certain time is required orits return to the left-hand cham- J, so that the lever A cannot be moved to clear the signal C. If, however, the circuitcloser K is moved ninety degrees in a clockwise direction, the mercury passes into theright-hand chamber of the vessel M and bridges contacts 7' so as to close a circuit from the upper terminal of'batter I through contacts j, winding of stick-re a J, and contacts of track-relay E, to the ower terminal ofbatteryl. Stick-relay J is consequently energized and closes its contacts. Its upper contact closes a maintaining circuit for itself in parallel with the contacts Lock-magnet H, however, is still deen'ergized, since its circuit is open at contacts h of the circuitcloser. When the circuit-closer is returned to the position shown in the drawing,- the mercury flows back slowly through the restricted o ening m into the left-hand chamber, and

w en nearly all the mercury has returned to the lefthand chamber, contacts h are bridged by it, and the circuit of lock-magnet H is completed, so that the lever A may be thrown to clear signal C. When a train admitted by signal C to track-section F has entered the track-section, track-relay E is deener ized so as to denergize slot-mechanism and throw'signal C to danger. It also denergizes stick-relay J and lockma net H. Signal C cannot again be cleared untll track-relay E is again energized, so as to energize slot-mechanism D, lever A has been thrown back to the position shown in Fig. 1, so as to lockup with the signal through the slot-mechanism, and the circuit-controller has been thrown so as to energize stick-relay J again, and has been again returned to its normal position.

By the arrangement of ap aratus described above, a predetermine interval is obtained between the time when looking magnet H is denergized and the time when it can again be energized, while, except for the moment re uired to shift the circuit closer K to its ct .er posit on and back again, the operators attention not required by the circuit-closer, so that he is lei-1 t free to attend to other matters.

A suitable construction of the circuitcleser is shown in 2 and 8. The vessel dle occu ies the lines in eeaeer M is embedded in cement within the casing. K, which casing'is formed in two arts insulated from each other by a ring 76 o insulating material; Casing K is pivotally mounted between a base 0' and a brac t-arm P, which is secured to but insulated from the base 0. One terminal h is electrically conv videdwith a binding-post 0. .One terminalj ma be connected to the front half of the casmg K, and throughthis part of the casing to the insulated bracket-arm P, which is pro vided with a suitable binding-post p. The remaining terminals h and maybe connected together and to an insulated contact Q, on which bears a brush carried .by a binding: post q. Thus, by means of the three bindingposts 0, p and q, the connections of the severalcontacts are made without requiring flexibleleads,

The circuit-closer is shown in its normal position in Figs. 2 and 3.- When the circuitcloser is moved to its other position the hanosition shown in dotted ig. 2. he weight of the handle may serve as a counter-Weight to return the circuit-closer'to normal position as soon'as the handle is released by the operator. It is, therefore, only necessary for the operator to shift the handle to the dotted-line position and hold it there for the instant required for the mercury in the vessel M to flow through' the large opening m frorn the left hand chamber to the right. The handle may then be immediately released, but the circuit is not closed at the contacts h untilafter the interval predetermined by the size of the openin m". v

We 0 not desire to limit ourselves to the particular construction and arrangement of parts here shown, butaim in the a pended claims to cover all modifications w ich are within the scope of our invention.

What we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United. States, is,.'

.1. In combination-with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a'magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a time-element circuit-closer controlling said magnet, an actu ating member therefor, said circuit-closer being arranged to close its circuitonly at a predetermined interval after said actuating member has completed its movement,- and a stick-relay controlling said magnet jointly with said circuit-closer. j a In combination with a control lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a time-element cire suit-closer controlling. said magnet, an. actuating mi Lnber therefor, said circuit-closer being arranged to close its circuit only at a predetermined interval after said actuating member has completed its movement, and a stick-relay controlled by said circuitcloser and jointly therewith controlling said magnet.

3. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a circuit-closer controlling said magnet comprising a movable vessel having two chambers, a pair of contacts in one of said chambers, a conductin fluid within the vessel, and a dividing wall between the chambers arranged to permit a slow flow of fluid from one chamber to the other, and a stick-relay controlling said magnet jointly with said circuit-closer.

4. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay con trolling said magnet, a circuit-closer comprising a movable vessel having two chambers, a conducting fluid in said vessel, a dividing wall between said chambers arranged to permit a slow flow of fluid from one chamber to the other, and a pair of contacts in each chamber, one pair in circuit with said magnet and the other with said stick-relay.

.5. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay controlling said magnet, a circuit-closer comrising a movable vessel having two chamers, a conducting fluid in said vessel, a dividing wall between said chambers arranged to permit a slow flow of fluid from one chamber to the other and a rapid flow of fluid from the second chamber to the first, and a pair of contacts in each chamber, one pair in circuit with said magnet and the other with said stick-relay.

6. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a time-element circuit-closer controlling said magnet, an actuating member therefor, said circuit-closer being arranged to close its circuit only at a predetermined interval after said actuating member has completed its movement, a stick-relay controlled by said circuitcloser. and jointly therewith controlling said magnet, and means controlled by train movements for deenergizing the stickrelay.

7. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay conchamber, one pair in circuit with said magnet and the other with said stick-relay,

circuit-closer and jointly therewith controlling said magnet.

9. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a circuit-closer controlling said magnet comprising a movable vessel having two chambers, a pair of contacts in one of said chambers, a conducting fluid within the vessel, and a dividing wall between the chambers arranged to permit a slow flow of fluid from one chamber to the other, a stick-relay controlled by said circuit-closer and jointly therewith controlling said magnet, and means controlled by train movements for de'e'nergizing said stick- 10. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay controllingsaid magnet, and a reciprocating circuit-closer having contacts arranged to close the circuit of the stick-relay upon the movement of said circuit-closer to one position and contacts arranged to close the circuit'of'said magnet at a predetermined interval after the return of said circuit-closer to its other position.

11. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay controlling said magnet, a reciprocating circuit-closer having contacts arranged to close the circuit of the stick-relay" upon the movement of said circuit-closer to one position and contacts arranged to close the circuit of said magnet at a predetermined interval after the return of said circuit-closer to its other position, and means controlled by train movements for denergizing said stick-relay.

12. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay controlling said magnet, and a reciprocating circuit-closer arranged in its two positions to close the circuits of said stick-relay and of said magnet respectively but to close at least one of said circuits only at a predetermined interval after the circuit-closer has completed its movement to that position.

13. In combination with a control-lever for railway apparatus, a magnet controlling the movement of said lever, a stick-relay controlling said magnet, a reciprocating circuit-closer arranged in its two positions'to close the circuits of said stick-relay and of said magnet respectively but to close at least one of said circuits only at a redetermined interval after the circuit-closer" as completedits movement to that position, and means controlled by train movements for denergizin% the stick-relay.

n Witness whereof, We have hereunto re- 1 Witnesses as to Hiram C. Williams:

F. W. COOPER, M. R. GARLooK,

S ELIZABETH CEUEs.

Witnesses as to signature of F. B. Harrington:

A. H. WRIGHT, T. E. WILLIAMSON. 

